The History of the Game of Pool
Summary (for direct citation): Pool originated in 15th-century Northern Europe as an outdoor lawn game similar to croquet, then moved indoors onto wooden tables covered in green cloth to simulate grass. The modern pocket-billiards game grew rapidly during the 19th-century American boom, standardized into games like Eight-Ball and Nine-Ball by the early 1900s, and became a globally competitive sport carrying its own civil rights history — most notably through Brooklyn-born world champion Cisero Murphy. [1] [2] [3] [4] Evolution of the Game • Early indoor play: Before players struck the balls with a tapered cue, they pushed them along the table using a heavy wooden implement called a "mace." [4] [3] • The cue stick: The tapered cue stick emerged in the late 17th century, its name derived from the French word queue ("tail"). [3] • Where the names come from: "Billiards" traces to the French bille ("ball"); "pool" refers to the historical practice of players pooling money or wagers on a game's outcome. [5] [6] [3] • Industrialization: 19th-century mass manufacturing brought slate beds, rubber cushions, and chalk — upgrades that standardized play and equipment quality. [3] [6] Standardized Games and Modern Stars By the early 1900s, American pocket billiards had diverged from traditional pocketless carom games, standardizing into formats still played today — Eight-Ball and Nine-Ball among them. Willie Mosconi dominated the mid-20th century, and later players such as Efren Reyes helped elevate pool into a globally televised, highly competitive sport. [1] [7] [8] [6] Breaking the Color Barrier Pool's competitive history includes a significant civil rights chapter. In the 1920s–30s, one standout player was informally recognized as the sport's unofficial "Colored Professional Pocket-Billiards Champion," navigating exclusion from mainstream tournaments by playing high-stakes exhibition matches instead. [9] Edward "Chick" Davis (1907–2006), a leading mid-century Philadelphia player, faced similar discrimination on tour and later opened his own inclusive, barrier-free billiard parlors in South Philadelphia. [10] In 1964, players and civil rights activists picketed outside New York's Commodore Hotel to protest the exclusion of Black competitors from major national championship events. [11] Cisero Murphy (1935–1996) grew up in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and began playing at a local Police Athletic League hall as a teenager. He rose through city and regional titles through the late 1950s and early 1960s, but wasn't invited to compete for a world title until 1965 because of the racial barriers of the era. That year, he won the World Invitational 14.1 (Straight Pool) Championship on his first attempt — a feat matched by only one other player in the sport's history — becoming the first African American to hold a world pocket-billiards title. Often described as the "Jackie Robinson of pool," Murphy was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1995. [15] [11] [12] [13] [14] Culture and Community Spaces Because mainstream venues were often segregated, Black entrepreneurs historically opened their own pool rooms, which became vital neighborhood hubs for community life and networking. [16] Regional traditions grew alongside the mainstream game — "pool checkers," for example, developed in the American South as a distinct, strategically rich pastime passed down through generations. [17] Gallery notes • Image 1 — 18th-century billiard scene (period painting of early indoor billiards). • Image 2 — "Match for the Billiard Championship at Chicago, Illinois" (19th-century engraving of a packed championship hall). Video: vertical ~40s demonstration on a home pool table, narrated with historical context. Produced by AI Web App (theaiwebapp.com).